Today's letters: Theresa Spence is no Mahatma Gandhi

Theresa Spence is no Mahatma Gandhi

Re: Theresa Spence Is A Hero, letters to the editor, Jan 2.
Despite what letter-writer Jennifer Asimoudis thinks, intimidation can legitimately be viewed as terrorism, even in the absence of violence. Mahatma Gandhi had broad public support from India’s underclass in carrying out his hunger strike in support of independence. Comparing Theresa Spence to Gandhi is an insult to the latter’s name and reputation, and the context in which his protest took place.
It is not clear that Ms. Spence has widespread support from Canada’s aboriginal communities. Indeed, native leaders appear to be circumspect in their support for her hunger strike.
Yes, Ms. Spence, as an aboriginal leader, has the right to request a meeting with the Crown’s representative. In Canada that representative is the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, John Duncan. So far, Ms. Spence has ignored his request for a meeting.
Native leadership, politicians and the media are all at fault for feeding the myths that perpetuate Canada’s failed aboriginal policy. Legislative action by both major parties has been opposed by native leadership, who appear content with preserving the status quo.
Natives, governments and Canadians, more generally, will never solve this horrible blight on native reserves unless and until they resist repeating past failed solutions and deal truthfully and resolutely with this terrible issue. Robert Teskey, Ottawa.

Theresa Spence is no Mahatma Gandhi. It seems that she has begun this hunger strike as a distraction from the requirement of accountability at her reserve. The dismal conditions in many aboriginal communities is not a fault of the generous state but of the inhabitants whose culture cannot cope with the modern world. Jiti Khanna. Vancouver.

While I am in favour of legitimate protests, I fail to understand exactly what the Idle No More movement hopes to accomplish. I also fail to understand why native communities never seem to protest against their leaders, who have played a part in the poor state of their living conditions by paying themselves exorbitant salaries.
For example, what happened to the $90-million in federal funding that was given to Chief Theresa Spence’s Attawapiskat tribe, where conditions have not improved? And why do the native Canadians continue to be allowed to blockade highways and railway lines when no other group would be given as much leeway?
Forcing a meeting with the Prime Minister might be good public relations, but it will not upgrade native living conditions as long as the system of band financing is not open to public scrutiny and the native community continues to accept such poor leadership. E. Toeman, Montreal.

Don’t lose faith in the RCMP

Re: Canadian Confidence In RCMP Has Dropped ‘Significantly,’ Jan. 2.
Having served as a senior officer in the RCMP for almost 40 years, I was disheartened to read that “public confidence in Canada’s national police force has dropped ‘significantly’ over the past five years.”
Women joined the force in 1974 and have had an uphill battle for acceptance ever since. That being said, they have increased significantly both in overall numbers and those reaching the most senior ranks.
Certainly, the behaviour of some members have left a dark stain on the red tunics. Changes to the RCMP Act will hopefully allow such officers to be dealt with more expeditiously. I would ask the public to be patient and remember, this is an organization with a storied past that deserves a chance recover its proud reputation. Larry Comeau, Ottawa.

Fiscal cliff lessons

Re: Late Push To Avert Fiscal Cliff, Jan. 2.
America was born of a tax revolt and the “fiscal cliff” affair is but a raucous yet bloodless exercise in quintessential American democracy. And not a single gunshot fired in anger. Joe Baar, Avon, Ohio.

Barack Obama’s definition of compromise seems to be: You give me most of what I want and I’ll owe you one. Lyman MacInnis, Toronto.

Swagger away

Re: Do We Deserve To Swagger?, letter to the editor, Jan. 2.
Letter-writer Bob Larocque says that if he were travelling the world, he would wear a paper bag to hid his Canadian identity because of “the Harper government and all the damage its done to Canada’s reputation internationally.” Unlike Mr. Larocque I proudly wear a Maple Leaf when traveling overseas. I did so last year when touring the battlefields of Europe where so many young Canadians from previous generations had fought and died.
Just as we are rightly proud of the contribution of these Canadians to our international reputation, Canada now has much to be proud of with respect to our foreign policy, including our efforts in Afghanistan, our support for Israel, our withdrawal from Kyoto and not kowtowing to the United Nations. Canada does not need to “go along to get along” simply because we want to be seen as one of the “good guys” or to support the myth of us as the so called “honest broker.” Curt Shalapata, Oshawa, Ont.

Campus hypocrisy

Re: Capitalism’s Plight, Robert Fulford, Dec. 29
Robert Fulford tells us about Michael Sandel, who criticizes the practice of naming of public institutions after billionaires while himself holding a university chair named after one of them. At my university a while ago, a visiting economist told us about a controversy in which a building at the University of Chicago was to be named after Milton Friedman. The fear was that this would lead those who worked there to take a limited ideological perspective.
Our speaker was from the Trudeau Foundation. Boris DeWiel, Prince George, B.C.

Torture works

Re: Torture: Worse Than Useless, John Moore, Dec. 29.
John Moore fails to convince me that “torture doesn’t work.” Consider that in 2003, torture was successfully utilized after the CIA captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The information he provided was extensive.
When Hezbollah captured William Francis Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984, that led to one of the largest intelligence disasters in CIA’s history. Weeks after his capture (he would eventually be tortured to death) informants, double agents, and critical intelligence assets all over Europe slowly began disappearing. Clearly torture was an effective means to an end in that instance.
Most level-headed people would agree with Mr. Moore that torture is sickening and inhuman. However, the fact is that torture works, because everyone has a breaking point. Ian McLeod, Oakville, Ont.

Communing on the Web

Re: The New Pop Standard, Scott Stinson, Dec. 31.
Groups of people gathering around a TV or radio is not a “communal event.” It is once removed from real communal events, like attending a live sporting, religious, political or cultural gathering. The preference today of the Internet over TV seems to me nothing to moan about. There is far more choice and information on the Internet than there ever has been on TV — this is why authoritarian governments are so eager to control it. Watch for Barack Obama to hop on the bandwagon. Howard Bockner, Toronto.

Business mothers

Re: A Win Turns Into A War, Dec. 29.
As a mother of eight children and a small business entrepreneur, I agree with author Marie Slaughter that one of the only ways to manage being a mother and a top professional is to be self-employed. When professional demands took their toll on my family, I left a secure, well-paying position and ventured out on my own. There are still some small sacrifices but family stability and peace of mind far outweigh them.
Things have definitely changed in levels of education and in the workforce. The conversation needs to move beyond who is winning and who is ending. It is time to direct the dialogue towards how men and women can put aside our differences, pre-conceived ideas and egos and work together for the good of all. Terry McDermott, Toronto.

Shed no tears for Oberlander

Re: Alleged War Criminal Has Citizenship Revoked, Dec. 28.
As a German-Canadian, I support the Canadian government’s revisitited decision to deport Helmut Oberlander, a self-admitted accessory to an Einsatzkommando unit that killed more than 23,000 Jews.
Mr. Oberlander claims he was coerced to collaborate under threat of death; history proves otherwise. The rear-echelon slaughter of civilians was a safe sinecure. Anybody with no stomach for such brutal butchery was transferred — unpunished — to combat duty in regular military service.
I am outraged that anyone would publicly support Mr. Oberlander. I know I speak for the majority of German-Canadians when I urge misguided kinsmen to heap no more public shame on our heads. Thomas Mueller, Saint John, N.B.

U.S. founded on reason, not faith

Re: Role Of Religion, letter to the editor, Dec. 29.
Letter-writer Pavel Sorokin credits Christians for creating the U.S. Constitution. Certainly most of the men involved were Christians, but the philosophical founding of the United States of America came from a smaller group regarded to have been men of The Enlightenment, not men of Christianity. They were deists who did not believe the Bible was true; freethinkers who relied on their reason, not their faith.
According to Wikipedia, historian Gregg L. Frazer even argues that the leading Founders (Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Wilson, Morris, Madison, Hamilton, and Washington) were neither Christians nor Deists, but rather supporters of a hybrid “theistic rationalism.”
Whatever the truth may be, in the humble opinion of this writer a new renaissance yet awaits mankind. It seems to have been envisioned by the Founding Fathers but misunderstood by the people at large. Dave McLean, Toronto.

For celiacs, gluten-free food is not ‘politics’

Re: The Politics Of Playtime, Dec. 29.
I would like to respond to reporter Sarah Boesveld’s suggestion that asking for gluten-free foods for children is little more than “politics” among parents. A strict gluten-free diet is an absolute necessity for those with celiac disease, a dangerous autoimmune disease whereby the intestinal lining is damaged by gluten, a substance found in wheat, rye and barley. The body turns on itself and the resulting damage hinders the absorption of the nutrients required to remain healthy.
For celiacs, ingestion of gluten can result in an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, certain cancers of the gut and infertility. Indeed, it can be fatal if not treated. While there is no cure, celiac disease can be managed through the gluten-free diet. Mark Johnson, national secretary, Canadian Celiac Association, Ottawa.

Three votes against the niqab

Re: Niqab Experts Are Those Who Wear It, letter to the editor, Jan. 2.
Letter-writer Nazia Khurshid claims that women should be applauded for wearing the niqab because it protects them from sexual assault, and forces people to get to know the real woman, instead of focusing on her looks alone.
I’m not sure which of those two ideas is more odious, the misogynistic idea that women either invite or repel rape based on their way of dressing, or the idea that covering a woman from head to toe in a black shroud, with only a slit for her eyes, is done to encourage people to appreciate more than her looks or hairstyle.
To me, and many other Canadians, the only message conveyed by a niqab is “stay away” — it certainly doesn’t transmit a desire for people to get to know the wearer. And while Ms. Khurshid and others may choose to wear a niqab, there are many others who are not allowed to choose, but are forced to wear one by their family or society. Restrictive garments like the niqab segregate women, require men to be seen as aggressors unable to control themselves around women, and prevent participation in many activities. They are a byproduct of a paternalistic culture, and to suggest otherwise is naïve. Sarah Stelfox, Calgary.

Nazia Khurshid makes two curious arguments to support the idea of women wearing the niqab. The first seems to be that a woman should cover herself as protection against sexual assault. Why should a woman have to encumber herself in voluminous clothing for protection?
Second, if as she says, the niqab allows a woman to be seen for what she is and not for her looks, shouldn’t both females and males be covered so that only their personalities, education and inner traits are evident to others? Why should men be the sole beneficiaries of the “halo effect.”
Brian Caines, Ottawa.

Nazia Khurshid’s letter brings to mind the history of women’s suffrage in North American and England at the turn of the 20th century. Well-bread society ladies often said, “Nice ladies do not wish to have the right to vote.” Can you imagine anyone being of that opinion today. Meg Hughes, Georgetown, Ont.